Self-Esteem and Empowerment
“I feel so shy and awkward around others. Most days I’d just rather be by myself.”
“I obsess over every mistake I make - my inner critic just won’t shut up and let me be!”
“There are so many things I want to accomplish…but something keeps holding me back.”
“I’m so envious of people who can just go out there and make things happen in their lives.”
What is self-esteem?
Self-esteem is the opinion we have of ourselves.
People with a healthy self-esteem think positively about themselves, feel competent in various areas of their lives, are aware and accepting of any flaws or shortcomings they may have, and are optimistic about their future.
On the other hand, people with low self esteem are very critical about themselves, are more negative about their qualities and abilities, and generally feel pessimistic about how their lives will unfold.
Self esteem exists on a spectrum, and can vary depending on which aspect of your life you are considering: professional skills, body image, social life, intellectual abilities, sports performance and so on.
Origins of self-esteem
Having and maintaining positive self-esteem is something that we learn.
The environment we grow up in plays a major role in the thoughts and beliefs we have about ourselves. The people who form our most important early relationships – parents, teachers, coaches, friends – give us a lot of feedback about our “worth”.
When that feedback is consistently positive, realistic and constructive, we are more likely to develop a healthy self-esteem. On the other hand, if we receive constant criticism, or even abuse or bullying, our self-esteem will suffer.
Other important factors can also strengthen or diminish our self esteem, including messages from the society we live in. The way you value yourself may be impacted by whether you identify with a group that benefits from privilege or suffers from discrimination, or how closely your body type fits social norms around beauty and ability, or any other messaging around ideas about what “good” and “inadequate” looks like.
Psychotherapy and self-esteem
You may want to address any negative distortions you may have around your worth to avoid these perceptions becoming chronic, intensifying, and feeding into anxiety, depression, social isolation, relational issues, or any other form of mental distress.
Psychotherapy can help you identify distorted beliefs about yourself and any patterns in thinking and behavior that are reinforcing these negative beliefs.
Through psychotherapy we can work on shifting from negative views of yourself to a more realistic and authentic sense of who you are.
We will look at where your strengths lie so that your beliefs better fit your qualities and abilities. And we will work on helping you take action towards a more authentic and fulfilling life.
Self-Esteem and Empowerment
Raising your self-esteem can help you develop a strong sense of who you are, what you are worth and what you are capable of achieving.
This can help you develop and nurture relationships and meaningful connections in different areas of your life: with friends, on the job, and within your community.
This process can then empower you to take action in any area of your life that you feel requires a change of direction, be it a career choice or relationship matter, or wider issues such as social justice or climate action.
FIND OUT MORE
To learn more about therapy and my work, you can read about my other Specialty Areas and my approach to Individual Therapy here, and take a read through my profile.
If you’re interested in starting therapy make sure look at my FAQ page and Fees Page. And if you’d like to work with me, be sure to check my availabilities at the top of the contact page.
You can also read my blog and find me on Instagram or LinkedIn, where I mostly post content related to ecopsychology in Italy.